Hashashin
"You cannot threaten a Duck with a river" -Rashid Ad-Din Sinan The Hashashin, also known as the Assassin Order, was a medieval organization of assassins located in the Middle East. They held the medieval Islamic world in their clutches for more than 130 years before almost being destroyed by the Mongols, yet even then, scattered across Syria, the remnants of the mystical society of the Assassins, or Hashashin, waited patiently, biding their time until their Imam called them once. In their time they held their enemies and opponents in a constant state of paranoia by threat of public assassination. They would assassinate their victims in broad daylight in very public places, such as mosques, to increase the political impact of their actions. The Assassin Order killed Sultans, Viziers, Caliphs, Patriarchs, Counts, and all who threatened their way of life. History Hassan-i Sabbah, The First Lord of Alamut and Founder of the Assassins "From the days of my boyhood, from the age of seven, I felt a love for the various branches of learning and wished to become a religious scholar; until the age of seventeen I was a seeker and searcher for knowledge, but kept to the Twelver faith of my father." - Hassan-i Sabbah Hassan-i Sabbah was born in Qumm. His father, Ali bin Muhammad, a Kufan of Yamenite origin was a scholar. From early age he acquired the rudiments of formal education from his father at home. When he was still a child, his father moved to Ray and it was there that Hassan-i Sabbah pursued his education. Hassan-i Sabbah was intelligent and proficient in geometry and astronomy. He learnt the Ismaili doctrines from a Fatimid missionary, Amir Dharrab. Soon he was reading Ismaili literature, which so stirred him that when he became dangerously ill, he began to fear that he might die without knowing the truth. When he recovered, he approached an Ismaili for further clarification of the doctrines. Convinced that Ismailism represented ultimate reality, he embraced Ismailism at the age of 35 years in 1071. Hassan then became a missionary, toured many cities, including Mosul, Rahba and Damascus Beirut, Sidon, Tyre, Acre, Caesarea and finally reached Cairo in 1078, where he was forced to leave the city. He gained a following and studied the economic, social and religious conditions of the people. In 1088, Hassan-i Sabbah seemed to have chosen the remote castle of Alamut in Daylam as the base of his operations. He took possession of the fortress of Alamut in 1090 and established an independent state. This is when and where he founded the Hashashin. Hassan died in 1124. Kiya Buzurg Ummid Da'i Kiya Buzurg Ummid was the second ruler of Alamut from 1124 to 1138. Kiya Buzurg was of Deylami origin from the region of Rudbar. On 11 June 1124, a day before the death of Hassan-i Ṣabbaḥ, Hassan appointed him his successor. Kiya generally followed the policies of Hassan-I Ṣabbaḥ. Kiya Buzurg Ummid was one of the outstanding Assassin Da'is who made valuable contributions toward the establishment of an Independent State in Persia in 1090 which lasted for more than one hundred and seventy years. It is unfortunate that the historians have not preserved the details of the life of Kiya Buzurg. This makes the task for his biographers a difficult one. However, some information in this connection is available mainly in the two famous histories: "Tarikh-i-Jehan Ghusha" by Ata-ul-Mulk Juvayni (1226-83) and 'Jami-at-Tawarikh' by Rashid-ud-din (1247-1318). In this paper, an attempt has been made together facts from various sources in order to point the true picture of this great man. Evidently some gaps have remained unfilled which are due to the non availability of the required data. In his early reign the Assassin hold was expanded in Eshkevar and Taleghan. The text of a bedtime prayer in Persian is attributed to Kiya Buzurg Ummid. Muhammad son of Kiya Buzurg Muhammad bin Kiya Buzrug was born in 1097 most likely in the fortress of Lambasar. He was trained by his father, and proved an able and competent administrator. He was assisted by his one young brother Kiya Ali, who led many expeditions and died in 1144. In the early years of Muhammad bin Kiya's reign, the area under the control of Alamut was extended in Daylam and Gilan, where several new castles were taken or constructed, such as Sa'adatkuh, Mubarakkuh and Firuzkuh. These castles were acquired usually through the efforts of an Assassin commander, called Kiya Muhammad bin Ali Khusaro Firuz. The Seljuks fought the Hashashin on numerous occasions, and also attempted to invade Alamut. They seized the castles of Mihrin and Mansurakuh from the Assassin Order in Qummis. On one occasion, Shah Ghazi attacked on the Ismaili inhabitants of Rudhbar and devastated their properties. He had reportedly killed a large number of the Ismailis and erected towers of their heads. Muhammad son of Kiya Buzurg was outraged. In 1141, he ordered the death of their deadly enemy Jawhar, the Seljuk commander in Sanjar's camp in Khorasan. Abbas, the Seljuk emir of Ray, had slaughtered a large number of the Ismailis in reprisal. He also raided towns in Assassin territory near Alamut. His violent operations continued, therefore, the Hashashin sent an emissary to sultan Sanjar in 1146, asking his intervention in this context. It appears that Abbas, the Seljuk emir of Ray, did not refrain from his hostilities despite several attempts of Sultan Sanjar. He was however killed on his way to Baghdad, and the Seljuks sent his head to Alamut. Muhammad bin Kiya Buzrug died on February 20, 1162 and was buried next to the tombs of Hassan-i Sabbah and his father Kiya Buzrug Ummid. He governed as a ruler for 22 years. In short, during his reign they ,the Ismailis, enjoyed ease and tranquility. Imam Hassan II "Know that this Imamate is true, will never go astray, become changed or altered. It was always preserved in the posterity of Mawlana (Ali), and will never become dissociated from them, either in appearance, or in meaning, or reality." - Imam Hassan II Hassan ʿAlā Dhikrihi's Salām or Hassan II was the leader of the Assassins and their Ismaili state from 1162 until 1166. From his capital of Alamut he ruled parts of Persia and Syria. His chief subordinate in Syria was Rashid ad-Din Sinan, the Old Man of the Mountain. In 1164 Hassan, leading the Assassin Order, proclaimed the Qiyamat, the abrogation of Sharia law. This violation of Islamic custom scandalized Sunnis and orthodox Shias, who retaliated with violence against Hassan's followers. No contemporary Assassin account of the event has survived, and it is likely that scholars will never know the exact details of this time. The Imam Hassan ‘Ala Dhikrihi al-Salam died a violent death in 1166, only a year and a half after the declaration of the qiyama. He was stabbed in the Hashashin castle of Lambasar by his brother in law, Hassan Namwar. He was succeeded by his son Imam Nūr al-Dīn Muhammad who abandoned his father's schemes of world revolution. Imam Nūr al-Dīn Muhammad II Nur al-Din Muhammad was the Nizari Ismaili Imam of Alamūt who reigned the longest period out of any lord of Alamut, forty-four years. He affirmed the policies of his father, Imam Hassan II, who had been stabbed to death a year after proclaiming Qiyāma, or the Resurrection. He also ordered the assassination of a vizier of the caliph in Baghdad. Nuruddin Muhammad, also called Muhammad bin Hassan, was born around 1155 or 1158 in Alamut. He is also known as Muhammad II, and sometimes as Ziaruddin Muhammad. His mother was related to the Buwahid family. Immediately upon his accession, he arrested Hassan Namwar, his father's killer, and sentenced him to death. He proceeded to confirm that his father and therefore he himself were descendants of Nizar, and subsequent Imams. He is said to have been a prolific writer, and during his long reign, the doctrine of the Resurrection was developed and elaborated. Nur al-Din was greatly engaged in his interest on philosophy and esoteric doctrines. He even compiled several books to broach the doctrines of the Ismailis. Muhammad was well steeped in Arabic and composed many proverbs and poetry in Arabic. Few misconception had started among the Muslims during his period about the qiyama in Persia and Syria, therefore, Muhammad wrote several tracts to justify the doctrines of qiyama. In his elaboration of the doctrine of qiyama, he also assigned as usual a central role to the Imam. It further implied a complete personal transformation of the Ismailis who henceforth were expected to see nothing but the Imam and the manifestation of the divine truth in him. The period of Muhammad was longer, in which there had been no war between the Assassins and neighboring rulers. It is possible that the Abbasid and Seljuk powers were at their downfall, and were incapable to attack the Hashashin castles. Nur al-Din insisted that the Ismailis, through viewing the universe through their Imam, could in fact reach "a third level of being" or "a realm of spiritual life and awareness". In September 1210 Nūr al-Dīn Muhammad II died, possibly due to being poisoned, a coward's tool. His successor was his son, Jalālu-d-Dīn Hassan III, who repudiated the policies of his father, proclaimed himself as following Sunni Islam and commanded his followers to follow Shari'a in a Sunni manner. Imam Jalālu-d-Dīn Hassan III Jalālu-d-Dīn Ḥassan III (1187–1221), son of Nūru-d-Dīn Muḥammad II, ruled from 1210-21. The Imam claimed to have converted to Sunni Islam, which was accepted by Abbasid Caliph al-Nasir and other Muslim princes. His Sunni zeal and aversion to his former faith made him go so far as to curse his ancestors and burn the books of Hassan-i Sabah. He invited many Sunni scholars and jurists from across Khurasan,Qazvin and Iraq to visit Alamut Castle, and even invited them to inspect the library and remove any books they found to be objectionable. He also instructed these scholars to teach his followers,8 whom he commanded to observe the Sunni Sharia. However, his conversion has been interpreted by some as an act of taqiyya. During his lifetime, he maintained friendly relations with the `Abbasid Caliph al-Nasir. An alliance with the caliph of Baghdad meant greater resources for the self-defense of not only the Nizārī Ismā'īlī state, but also the broader Muslim world. He also personally led his army to assist Uzbek, ruler of the Eldiguzids, against a rebel. He died in 1221, possibly the result of poisoning. He was married to four Sunni women from the daughters of the princes of Gilan, after he sought the princes' permission, who then asked the Abbasid Caliph, who approved. They, along with some of Ḥassan III's kinsfolk, including his sister, were executed by his son's vizier under allegations of poisoning Ḥassan III. His Sunni conformity was gradually reversed and his community increasingly regarded itself openly as Ismaili Shiite during the Imamate of his only surviving son and successor, ʻAlāʼ ad-Dīn Muhammad III, who succeeded him at the age of 9 years old. However, his son upon succession was initially too young, so Ḥassan III's vizier controlled the state. Imam '‘'Alā’ ad-Dīn Muhammad III Aladdin (1211–1255) was the son of Jalālu-d-Dīn Hassan III. He ruled from 1221-55. His reign witnessed the beginnings of the Mongol devastation of Persia and the eastern Muslim world, and he tried unsuccessfully to establish friendly ties with the Mongols and to prevent their destruction of their independent state, which was already underway. He was succeeded by his eldest son Rukn al-Din Khurshah in 1255. He was the only surviving son of Jalaluddin Hassan, whom he succeeded at the age of 9 years old, in 1221. However, upon succession he was initially too young, so Hassan III's vizier controlled the state. His mother was a Sunni women and a daughter of one of the princes of Gilan. Under Muhammad III's reign, the Sunni conformity initiated by his father was gradually and quietly reversed and his community increasingly regarded itself openly as Ismaili Shi'ite. His rule was described by some as "cruel, imperious, sadistic, alcoholic, and unpredictable." Muhammad III was murdered in 1255 by Hassan Mazandarani, a Sunni scholar and a possible homosexual lover, while the former was allegedly drunk. Mazandarani and three of his children were later executed by the succeeding Imam, Khurshah, as retribution. Muhammad III's murder prevented the need to implement a plan, which was hatched by Assassin leaders (possibly concerned about the Imam's supposed alarming mental deterioration), to replace him with Khurshah. The Final Grandmaster and Lord of Alamut, Imam Rukn-ud-Dīn Khurshāh Rukn-ud-Dīn Khwarshāh (?-1256) was the son of ‘Alā’ ad-Dīn Muhammad III. He was also the 5th and final Grandmaster of the Hashashin. The Imam was the eldest son of Imam ‘Ala al-Din Muhammad and succeeded his murdered father to the Imamate in 1255. Imam Rukn al-Din engaged in a long series of negotiations with the invading Mongols, and under whose leadership, the Alamut Castle was surrendered to the Mongol Empire. In 1256, Rukn al-Din commenced a series of gestures demonstrating his submission to the Mongols. In a show of his compliance and at the demand of Hulagu Khan, Rukn al-Din began the dismantling process at Alamut Castle, Maymundiz and Lambsar Castle, removing towers and battlements. However as winter approached, Hulagu took these gestures to be a means of delaying his seizure of the castles and on 8 November 1256 the Mongol troops quickly encircled the Maymundiz fortress and residence of the Imam. After four days of preliminary bombardment with significant casualties for both sides, the Mongols assembled theirmangonels around the castle in preparation for a direct siege. There was still no snow on the ground and the attacks proceeded, forcing Rukn al-Din to declare his surrender in exchange for his and his family's safe passage. After another bombardment, Rukn al-Din descended from Maymundiz on 19 November. In the hands of Hulagu, Rukn al-Din was forced to send the message of surrender to all the castles in the Alamut valley. At the Alamut fortress, the Mongol prince Balaghai led his troops to the base of the castle, calling for the surrender of the commander of Alamut, Muqaddam al-Din. It was decreed that should he surrender and pledge his allegiance to the Great Khan within one day, the lives of those at Alamut would be spared. Muqaddam al-Din was reluctant and wondered if the Imam's message of surrender was actually an act of duress. In obedience to the Imam, Muqaddam and his men descended from the fortress, and the Mongol army entered Alamut and began its demolition. Many of the other fortresses had already complied, therefore not only would Muqaddam's resistance have resulted in a direct battle for the castle, but the explicit violation of the instructions of the Grandmaster, which would impact significantly on the Assassin commander's oath of total obedience to the Grandmaster. When Rukn al-Din arrived in Mongolia with promises to persuade the prevailing Hashashin fortresses to surrender, the Great Khan Möngke Khan no longer believed the Grandmaster to be of use. En route back to his homeland, Rukn al-Din was put to death and died in 1256.